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Aisalkyn Aidarova
Aisalkyn Aidarova

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What is network protocol

#devops #networking #beginners

🌐 Network Protocols Explained for DevOps Engineers

1. What Is a Network Protocol?

A network protocol is a set of rules that defines how data is sent, received, and understood between devices on a network.
It ensures that computers, servers, routers, and switches can “speak the same language” — even if they use different hardware or software.

In DevOps, protocols are everywhere — from connecting to AWS EC2 via SSH, to delivering web apps through HTTP/HTTPS, to configuring DNS for domain routing.

2. Common Network Protocols and DevOps Use Cases

Protocol Full Form DevOps Use Case Port(s) Example Command
HTTP / HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol (Secure) Communication between browsers, APIs, and web servers 80 / 443 curl -I https://example.com
FTP / SFTP File Transfer Protocol / Secure File Transfer Protocol Transfer build artifacts, log files, or configs between servers 21 / 22 sftp user@server
SMTP / SMTPS Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (Secure) Send build notifications (e.g., Jenkins → Email) 25 / 465 Jenkins email plugin setup
DNS Domain Name System Maps domain names to IPs (e.g., myapp.devops.com → 52.31.12.4) 53 nslookup myapp.devops.com
DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Automatically assigns IPs to instances in a subnet 67 / 68 AWS assigns IP automatically
SSH Secure Shell Secure remote login to EC2, Kubernetes nodes, and containers 22 ssh ec2-user@54.160.12.11
TCP / IP Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol Backbone of all internet and intranet communication 0–65535 Used by all major protocols
POP3 / IMAP Post Office Protocol v3 / Internet Message Access Protocol Retrieve Jenkins or monitoring system emails 110 / 143 Email client configuration
UDP User Datagram Protocol Used for DNS, video streaming, and real-time logs (fast, no error checking) 53 / 67 / 123 dig example.com
ARP Address Resolution Protocol Maps IP to MAC address inside LAN or VPC N/A arp -a
Telnet Terminal Network Protocol Legacy insecure protocol (replaced by SSH) 23 telnet host port
SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol Used by monitoring tools (e.g., Prometheus, Nagios) 161 / 162 Device metric collection
ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol Network diagnostics (ping, traceroute) N/A ping google.com
NTP Network Time Protocol Synchronizes system clocks (used in AWS, logs, CI/CD) 123 timedatectl status
RIP / OSPF Routing Information Protocol / Open Shortest Path First Network routing between routers or VPCs Dynamic AWS route tables, routers

3. Why Protocols Matter in DevOps

DevOps Scenario Protocols Involved Explanation
Deploying a web app HTTP/HTTPS, TCP/IP, DNS HTTP routes traffic to your web server; DNS resolves the URL.
Accessing EC2 instances SSH, TCP/IP Secure shell login to configure or deploy.
Setting up Jenkins pipelines HTTP (web UI), SMTP (email alerts), SSH (build agents) Jenkins uses several protocols for full automation.
Monitoring and logging SNMP, ICMP, NTP Monitor health, ping servers, and sync time for log accuracy.
Container orchestration (Kubernetes) TCP/IP, DNS, SSH Pods communicate through internal DNS and TCP/IP.
File transfer between servers SFTP / FTPS Transfer configs, logs, or backups securely.
Load balancing and scaling TCP, UDP, DNS ALB routes user traffic evenly to multiple servers.

4. 💻 Visual Summary (Whiteboard-Style Diagram) 

            +-------------------+
            |    User Browser   |
            |   (HTTP/HTTPS)    |
            +-------------------+
                      |
                      v
        +--------------------------+
        |  DNS resolves domain     |
        |  (maps name → IP)        |
        +--------------------------+
                      |
                      v
        +--------------------------+
        |  Load Balancer (TCP/IP)  |
        | Routes traffic to EC2s   |
        +--------------------------+
              /              \
             v                v
 +-------------------+   +-------------------+
 |   EC2 Web App     |   |   EC2 Web App     |
 |  (SSH for admin)  |   |  (SFTP uploads)   |
 +-------------------+   +-------------------+
                      |
                      v
        +--------------------------+
        |  Database (TCP/IP)       |
        |  Time sync via NTP       |
        +--------------------------+
                      |
                      v
        +--------------------------+
        | Monitoring (SNMP/ICMP)   |
        +--------------------------+
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5. Key Learning for DevOps Students

Concept What You’ll Do in Practice
Use SSH Connect to EC2 and run commands securely
Understand DNS Configure Route 53 or Ingress for your services
Use HTTP/HTTPS Deploy and test web apps via Load Balancer
Work with TCP/IP Debug connectivity and open/close ports
Use ICMP Test connections with ping and traceroute
Use NTP Keep CI/CD logs and alerts time-synced
Secure with HTTPS / FTPS / SMTPS Protect data in transit

6. Real-Life Example: AWS Web App Flow

  1. User enters myapp.jump2tech.com. → DNS resolves it to ALB IP.
  2. HTTP/HTTPS request hits ALB. → ALB forwards via TCP to EC2 backend.
  3. DevOps team accesses EC2 via SSH.
  4. EC2 syncs time via NTP, reports status via SNMP.
  5. Monitoring pings via ICMP.
  6. Logs and backups are sent via SFTP.
  7. Jenkins sends email alerts via SMTP.

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